CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES 



O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave" 




CITIZENSHIP 

in the 

UNITED STATES 


By 

WALDO H. SHERMAN 

Secretary of the American League for Citizenship Training 
Author of ** Civics — Studies in American Citizenship 
and Practical Civil Government ’ ’ 


Introduction by 
President J. H. FINLEY 

College of the City of Ne-zv York 


American League for Citizenship Training 

156 Fifth Avenue 
NEW YORK CITY 


LiHKAKYof CONGRESS 
I wo CoDles Received 

OCT 15 laor 

Copyndll Etiliy 

CLASS .4 XXC./NO. 

^ SiC'iQ 

COPY B. 





/> 




Copyright, igog 

American League for Citizenship Training 


FIRST EDITION 
Price 25 Cents 






Introduction 


This little book is published by the American League 
for Citizenship Training, for the promotion of good citi¬ 
zenship. 

It is designed for the use both of those who desire to 
become citizens and of those who wish to become better 
informed as citizens. 

It is written in the form of question and answer. The 
questions are those which one wishing to know the con¬ 
ditions and duties of citizenship would naturally ask, and 
the answers give such facts as every citizen should know. 
The alien who would become a citizen should, first of all, 
have an understanding of the Naturalization Laws. And 
while a copy of these laws may be obtained on application 
to the Department of Commerce and Labor, this fact is 
not generally known, and such information as aliens ob¬ 
tain comes, for the most part, through hearsay. It is for 
this reason that considerable space has been given to a 
careful summing up of the contents of these laws, in 
such language as will, it is hoped, make them easily 
understood. 

Every citizen should become familiar with the Declar¬ 
ation of Independence and the Constitution of the United 
States. But the fact that these documents are published, 
as a rule, only in text-books ranging in price from seventy- 
five cents to one dollar and a half, prohibits their wide 
circulation and makes familiarity with them difficult for 
the great majority of citizens. Moreover, text-books on 



4 


INTRODUCTION 


Civics and Politics are designed primarily for students, 
and their circulation, therefore, is generally limited. 

The purpose of the League in issuing this little book 
is to provide in clear and correct form, fundamental and 
much needed information concerning the organization 
and principles of our government. 


The American League for Citizenship Training was 
incorporated under the law of the State of New York 
in 1906. It aims to do a distinctively educational work 
along citizenship lines: to elevate citizenship by training 
citizens in the principles and practice of American self- 
government. As explained in its Certificate of Incorpora¬ 
tion, its purpose is “to institute, cultivate, promote and 
direct an educational movement for citizenship training 
in political, industrial, social, economic, ethical and related 
subjects, by means of lectures, conferences, classes, clubs 
and otherwise; to publish, in reports and otherwise, such 
information and statements as may tend to promote a 
better understanding of social, political, and economic 
conditions; to be co-operative with and helpful to all 
other organizations tending to promote civic betterment.” 

It has been the observation of those interested in the 
organization of the League that our country is entering 
upon what might be termed a period of civic renaissance, 
evidenced in part by an awakening of the public con¬ 
science and a growing interest in the conduct of public 
affairs. For this reason, among others, .the time seems 
propitious for the promulgation of a movement such as 
that contemplated in the organization of the League. It 
is not intended that it shall supersede or detract from the 
work now being done by other organizations in the inter- 



INTRODUCTION 


5 


ests of good citizenship, but rather that it shall co-operate 
in every way possible with all such organizations. Indeed, 
the League hopes to become a sort of clearing house 
among the various organizations of similar nature. It 
has taken a name so broad and so inclusive of all work 
for civic betterment that it should be possible for it to be 
of material service to all other organizations whose 
objects are consistent with its own. 

The League would impress upon all citizens the duty of 
giving of their thought, time and influence for the further¬ 
ance of good government and clean politics; it would 
inculcate sentiments of nationality and of civic patriotism, 
and it would uphold by every means possible the princi¬ 
ples and standards of government laid down in the 
Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the 
United States. 

J. H. Finley. 

September 2jrdy igop 
New York 


Contents 


PAGE 

Introduction,. 3 

Contents,.6 

The Star-Spangled Banner,.7 

America,.9 

Citizenship—Its Beginnings, .ii 

Citizenship,.15 

Naturalization,.16 

National Government,.25 

The President,.25 

The President’s Cabinet,.28 

Civil Service,.30 

Congress,.31 

State Government,.36 

The Governor,.38 

Local Government,.40 

Taxation,.41 

Elections,. 43 

Courts,.46 

APPENDIX 

Population, .i. 

Declaration of Independence, .iii. 

Constitution of the United States, . . . vi. 























The Star-Spangled Banner 


O SAY, can you see, by the dawn’s early light, 

What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming. 
Whose stripes and bright stars, thro’ the perilous fight. 

O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming; 
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, 

Gave proof thro’ the night that our flag was still there I 
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave. 

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave. 

On the shore, dimly seen thro’ the mist of the deep. 

Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes, 
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep. 

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? 

Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam. 

In full glory reflected, now shines in the stream— 

’Tis the star-spangled banner, O long may it wave 
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave. 

And where is that band, who so vauntingly swore, 

’Mid the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion, 

A home and a country they’d leave us no more? 

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution; 
No refuge could save the hireling and slave 
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave— 

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave. 

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave. 

O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand. 

Between their loved home and the war’s desolation. 

Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heaven rescued land. 
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. 
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, 

And this be our motto, “In God is our trust”— 

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave. 
While the land of the free is the home of the brave. 

—Francis Scott Key, 1814. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 




America 


M 


Y country, ’tis of thee, 

Sweet land of liberty. 

Of thee I sing; 

Land where my fathers died. 

Land of the Pilgrims’ pride. 

From every mountain side 
Let freedom ring. 

My native country, thee. 

Land of the noble free. 

Thy name I love; 

I love thy rocks and rills. 

Thy woods and templed hills; 

My heart with rapture thrills 
Like that above. 

Let music swell the breeze. 

And ring from all the trees 
Sweet freedom’s song: 

Let mortal tongues awake. 

Let all that breathe partake. 

Let rocks their silence break. 

The sound prolong! 

Our father’s God, to Thee, 

Author of liberty. 

To Thee we sing; 

Long may our land be bright 
With freedom’s holy light; 

Protect us by Thy might. 

Great God, our King. 

Samuel F. Smith, 1832. 


THE CAPITOL, WASHINGTON, D. C. 











Citizenship—Its Beginnings 

July 4th, 1776, marks the beginning of the Indepen¬ 
dence of the United States of America. On this date the 
subjects of the British Crown, living in this country as 
colonists, declared themselves free and absolved from all 
allegiance to the British Crown; declared, moreover, all 
political connection between them, as United Colonies, 
and the State of Great Britain dissolved, and that as inde¬ 
pendent states, they had power ‘ho levy war, conclude 
peace, contract alliances, establish commerce and do all 
other acts and things which independent states may of 
right do.” 

This was a proclamation to the world, made by the 
people’s representatives in Congress assembled at Phila¬ 
delphia, Pa., and it proved a momentous step in the des¬ 
tiny of the nation. At the time, the Colonies of Great 
Britain in America numbered thirteen (all being the 
outgrowth, indirectly, of the first permanent English settle¬ 
ment made at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, and of the 
settlement made at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620). 
Great Britain’s claim to American territory was by right 
of discovery, but this claim was contested by other nations 
who had also made settlements here—the Dutch, the 
Spaniards, the French and the Swedes. These latter 
nations, however, were gradually overcome and dis¬ 
possessed, so that, at the time of the signing of the Declar¬ 
ation of Independence, the people of America, although 
predominantly English in blood, language, customs, and 
institutions, had become, through the experiences and 
vicissitudes of life together in this new country, Ameri¬ 
cans. No longer would they, as Americans, bear the 
yoke of taxation without representation, no longer would 
they have foreign soldiers quartered upon them in times 
of peace, no longer would they be restricted in trade and 
the manufacture of goods, no longer would they submit 


12 CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES 


to the rule of a Prince whom they considered and declared 
“unfit to be the ruler of a free people.’’ 

The liberty which had been thus proclaimed was still 
to be gained, however, for the British Crown did not 
willingly give up its claim to American territory or its 
rule over the American Colonies. Indeed, America’s 
long struggle for independence had already been precipi¬ 
tated before the signing of the Declaration of Inde¬ 
pendence, and what is known in American history as the 
War of the Revolution was then under way. 

Its beginning was on April 19th, 1775, when, at Lex¬ 
ington, Mass., was fired the first shot for liberty, that 
shot “heard round the world.” It ended at Yorktown, 
Pa., Oct. 19th, 1781, when the British general, Corn¬ 
wallis, surrendered to the Commander-in-Chief of the 
American Army, George Washington. The Treaty of 
Peace was signed at Paris, France, Sept. 3rd, 1783, and 
on Nov. 25th of that year, known in history as “Evacu¬ 
ation Day,” the British took their departure down the 
Bay of New York’s harbor—and America was free. 

During the time from the beginning of the Revolution¬ 
ary War, April 19th, 1775, to the Treaty of Paris, Sept. 
3rd, 1783, and from that date to April 30th 1789, when 
George Washington took the oath of office as the first 
President of the United States, the American people had 
been learning, through experience, the truth of the maxim, 
“united we stand, divided we fall”—an experience which 
crystallized itself in the motto adopted by the nation, “E 
pluribus unum,”—from many, one. 

The signing of the Declaration of Independence left 
each of the thirteen united colonies free to form its own 
State government. In most instances this was done by 
the adoption of a State constitution, though in some 
States the charter rights and privileges of colonial organ¬ 
ization, granted by Great Britain, were so liberal as to 
serve the purpose of a constitution for a considerable 
time. 

On July 9th, 1778, there came into existence what was 
known as the Confederated Union, whose Articles of 


CITIZENSHIP—ITS BEGINNINGS 


13 


Confederation bound the States “in a firm league of 
friendship with each other, for their common defence, 
the security of their liberties, and their mutual and gen¬ 
eral welfare.” This form of centralized government, 
however, proved unsuccessful. It was a government of 
the States and not of the people; a government in which 
thirteen sovereign and independent States were acting 
together, not as one republic, but as thirteen separate 
republics. In the Confederation, the powers of govern¬ 
ment were unevenly balanced. The legislative power was 
vested in a Congress to which each State sent delegates, 
but the executive and judicial powers were vested in 
the States. The Congress could make laws equally bind¬ 
ing on all the States, but it was left to each State to give 
enforcement and interpretation to such laws. 

How, then, were these sister republics, each zealous 
for her own rights as a sovereign and independent State, 
to be welded together into one great and mighty nation? 
They feared a central government; they feared one an¬ 
other; and yet they were bound to each other by all the 
ties of a common heritage. Surely no more serious 
question had confronted the American people since their 
declared independence. 

Again, therefore, and in Philadelphia, the people’s 
representatives assembled to consider in convention an 
important national issue. In that city, in the year 1787, 
what is known in history as “the Constitutional Conven¬ 
tion,” held secret sessions from May to September, and 
at the close of its last session was turned another page 
in our national history. 

The president of this convention was George Wash¬ 
ington, and with the exception of Rhode Island, every 
State in the Confederation through one or more repre¬ 
sentatives, had part in the deliberations. After a careful 
review of the Articles of Confederation they were de¬ 
clared incompetent to serve as the frame-work of a na¬ 
tional organization, and in their place was drawn up that 
masterpiece of statesmanship, the Constitution of the 
United States. This was presented to the Congress of 


14 CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES 


the Confederation with the recommendation that it be 
referred to the various States for ratification and adop¬ 
tion. One of its articles provided that its ratification by 
nine States, each in convention assembled, should mean its 
establishment between those States. The State of Dela¬ 
ware set the example, ratifying unanimously, December 
8th, 1787; but to New Hampshire, as the ninth State to 
ratify, must be accorded the honor of establishing the 
government of the Constitution, and thus bringing into 
existence what has become the priceless heritage of all 
who have sought American shores—‘‘a government of the 
people, by the people, for the people.” 


Citizenship 

Who are citizens of the United States? 

According to the Constitution of the United States, 
‘‘All persons born or naturalized in the United States and 
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the 
United States and of the State wherein they reside.” 

Does the Constitution lay any restriction upon the 
States as to a citizen’s right to vote? 

Only that contained in the Fifteenth Amendment: “The 
right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be 
denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, 
on account of race, color, or previous condition of servi¬ 
tude.” 

Have all citizens the right to vote? 

No; only those who have the qualifications of electors. 

How are the qualifications of electors determined? 

By each State in its election and ballot-box laws. 

What are the qualifications of electors as to age? 

It is a uniform law in all the States that an elector must 
have attained the age of twenty-one years. 

What are the qualifications as to sex? 

In all but four States, men only are permitted to vote. 
The States of Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah 
grant equal electoral rights to women also, even to the 
extent of holding office. Some other States give to women 
a restricted ballot, allowing them to vote on questions 
pertaining to schools or other purely local affairs. 

Are there character qualifications? 

Only to the extent that in nearly every State persons 
convicted of state prison offences are denied the right to 


16 CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES 


vote. Such, however, may regain citizenship by a pardon 
from the governor. 

Are there educational qualifications? 

In most of the States, no; Connecticut, Wyoming, and 
Massachusetts, however, have an educational qualification 
to this extent, that every elector must give evidence of his 
ability to read English. In Massachusetts he must also 
be able, at least, to write his name. 

What are the requirements as to residence? 

The election laws of each State define the length of 
time required to gain a voting residence within its terri¬ 
tory. These requirements vary from one year in the 
precinct, town and county, and two in the State, to the 
mere requirement of six months within the State. 

Is tax-paying a condition affecting an elector’s right 
to vote? 

In a few States the payment of a small poll tax is 
required before an elector may exercise his right to vote. 

Is there, in any of the States, a religious qualifica¬ 
tion? 

Absolutely none. 

What classes are excluded from suffrage? 

Idiots, insane, and paupers. 

What is the law as to the registration of electors? 

As a rule, electors are required to be registered before 
they can take part in an election. 


NATURALIZATION 

What is the Bureau of Immigration and Naturaliza¬ 
tion? 

It is a bureau established by Act of Congress, June 
29, 1906, in the Department of Commerce and Labor, 


NATU RAUZA TION 


17 


the purpose of which is to provide a uniform rule for 
the naturalization of aliens throughout the United States. 

Who is the head of this Bureau? 

An officer termed the Commissioner-General of Immi¬ 
gration, who is under the direction and control of the 
Secretary of Commerce and Labor. At the various ports 
of entry are also officers in charge, termed Commissioners 
of Immigration. 

What is a certificate of landing? 

It is a copy of the register which a Commissioner of 
Immigration at a port of entry gives to each alien who is 
allowed to land—a most valuable paper to the alien who 
intends to become a citizen. It gives his name, age, occu¬ 
pation, personal description (including height, complex¬ 
ion, color of hair and eyes), his place of birth, his last 
residence, intended place of residence in the United 
States, date of arrival, and, if entered through a port, 
name of vessel on which he arrived. 

What courts have the right to naturalize aliens as 
citizens of the United States? 

The exclusive right is given to the following courts: 
The United States Circuit and District courts, including 
the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia; also all 
courts of record, in any State or Territory, having a seal, 
a clerk, and jurisdiction in actions at law or equity, or 
law and equity, in which the amount in controversy is 
unlimited. 

What is the first step which an alien must take 
to become a citizen? 

He must make application to the court in the judicial 
district in which he is a resident. 

What is meant by an alien’s declaration of intention 
to become a citizen? 

It is the first paper taken out in the process of gaining 
citizenship. Blank forms are furnished for this purpose to 


i8 CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES 

clerks of courts by the Bureau of Immigration and Na¬ 
turalization. In taking out this paper, the alien must 
declare on oath before the clerk or his authorized deputy, 
that it is his hona fide intention to renounce absolutely 
and forever all foreign allegiance. He must also state 
that he is not an anarchist, a polygamist nor a believer in 
the practice of polygamy, and that it is his intention in 
good faith to become a citizen of the United States of 
America and to reside permanently therein. 

How old must an alien be when he takes out his 
first citizenship papers? 

He must have reached the age of eighteen years. * 

How long must he have been a resident in the 
country before he can declare his intention of becom¬ 
ing a citizen? 

He may make this declaration on the day of his arrival, 
provided he has reached the required age. 

With his declaration of intention filed, what is the 
next step the alien must take in the process of becom¬ 
ing a citizen? 

In not less than two, nor more than seven years, after 
he has made his declaration of intention, he must make 
and file, in duplicate, his petition for citizenship, signed 
in his own handwriting and duly verified. Herein he 
must state his full name, his place of residence, his 
occupation, and, if possible, the date and place of his 
birth, the place from which he emigrated, date and place 
of his arrival in the United States, and, if entered through 
a port, the name of the vessel on which he arrived. If 
he is married, he must state the name of his wife, and, if 
possible, the country of her nativity, and her place of resi¬ 
dence at the time of the filing of his petition; if he has 
children, the name, date, and place of birth and place of 
residence of each at the time of the filing of the petition. 


NATU RAUZA TION 


19 

What other special requirements are there in the 
petition to which the alien must make answer? 

He must set forth that he is not a disbeliever in, or 
opposed to organized government, or a member of, or 
affiliated with any organization or body of persons teach¬ 
ing disbelief in organized government. He must state 
also that he is not a polygamist, nor a believer in the 
practice of polygamy; that it is his intention to reside 
permanently within the United States, and to renounce 
forever, all foreign allegiance. He must also prove that 
he is able to speak the English language, and that he has 
been a resident of the United States continuously for a 
period of five years. 

Does the law require an alien to make his declara¬ 
tion of intention and file his petition for naturalization 
in the same court? 

It does not; although he must state in his petition the 
time when, and the place and name of the court where 
he declared his intention to become a citizen. 

Can an alien who is unable to speak the English 
language become a citizen? 

He can not, although an exception is made in the case 
of aliens who are physically unable to comply with the 
law, if they are otherwise qualified to become citizens; 
and in the case of aliens, who, having declared their 
intention to become citizens, make homestead entries upon 
the public lands of the United States and comply in all 
respects with the laws providing for homestead entries 
of such land. 

How many witnesses does the law require of the 
applicant in his petition for citizenship? 

His petition must be verified by the affidavits of at least 
two credible zvitnesses who are citizens of the United 
States, and who state in their affidavits that they have 
personally known the applicant to be a resident of the 
United States for a period of at least five years con- 


20 CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES 


tinuously, and of the State, Territory, or District in which 
the application was made, for the period of at least one 
year immediately preceding the date of the filing of the 
petition. They must also state that they each have per¬ 
sonal knowledge that he is of good moral character, and 
that he is in every way qualified, in their opinion, to be 
admitted as a citizen of the United States. 

How may a petitioner establish his five years’ resi¬ 
dence within the United States when only a part of 
that period has been in the State, Territory, or District 
in which he files his petition? 

If he has been in the State, Territory, or District for 
more than one year, he may establish the remaining por¬ 
tion of his five years’ residence by the depositions of two 
or more witnesses who are citizens of the United States, 
upon notice to the Bureau of Immigration and Naturali¬ 
zation and to the United States Attorney for the district 
in which the witnesses may reside. 

What is the duty of the Clerk of the Court after the 
filing of a petition? 

He must immediately give notice thereof by posting in 
a public and conspicuous place in his office, or in the 
building in which his office is situated, under an appro¬ 
priate heading, the name, nativity and residence of the 
alien, names of the witnesses whom the applicant expects 
to summon in his behalf and the date, as nearly as may be, 
for the final hearing of the petition. 

Where must the final hearing of a petition be held? 

In open court where the applicant and witnesses must 
be examined under oath. 

How soon after filing the petition for naturalization 
may the court take action thereon? 

In no case may final action be had upon a petition until 
at least ninety days have elapsed after the filing and 
posting of same. 


NATURALIZATION 


21 


What does the law state about the granting of cer¬ 
tificates before an election? 

No certificates of naturalization may be issued by any 
court within thirty days preceding the holding of any 
general election within the jurisdiction of such court. 

What does the law state concerning the naturaliza¬ 
tion of an alien who has an hereditary title or has been 
a member of any order of nobility in the kingdom or 
state from which he came? 

If such an alien applies to be admitted to citizenship, 
he must make an express renunciation of his title or order 
of nobility in the court in which his application is made, 
and his renunciation must be so recorded in the court’s 
records. 

Has an alien the right to change his name in his 
petition to become a citizen? 

Upon petition of an alien for a change of name, the 
court may, in its discretion, and as part of the process of 
naturalization, issue a decree authorizing such change, 
and the certificate of naturalization must be issued in ac¬ 
cordance therewith. 

What fees may the Clerk of the Court collect in 
naturalization proceedings? 

For receiving and filing a declaration of intention and 
issuing a duplicate thereof, $i.oo; for making, filing, and 
docketing the petition of an alien for admission as a 
citizen of the United States, and for the final hearing 
thereon, $2.00; and for entering the final order and the 
issuance of the certificate of citizenship thereunder, if 
granted, $2.00; a total of $5.00. 

What witness fees may be required of the petitioner 
for naturalization? 

The Clerk of the Court may require him to deposit a 
sum of money sufficient to cover the expenses of subpoe¬ 
naing and paying the legal fees of any witnesses for whom 


22 CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES 


he may request a subpoena, and, upon the final discharge 
from the clerk, the customary and usual witness fees 
from the moneys which the petitioner shall have paid 
to the clerk for such purposes, and the residue, if any, 
must be returned by the clerk to the petitioner. 

Is any nationality excluded from citizenship? 

By laws passed in 1882, the naturalization of Chinamen 
is prohibited. 

What special privilege is accorded an alien soldier 
of the United States Army who wishes to become a 
citizen? 

He may be admitted to citizenship on the expiration of 
one year’s residence, if he has reached the age of twenty- 
one years, and gives proof of good moral character and 
has received an honorable discharge from the service. 

What special privilege is accorded an alien who has 
enlisted or may enlist in the United States Navy or 
the marine corps? 

If an alien twenty-one years of age and upward has 
served five consecutive years in the navy and gives evi¬ 
dence of good moral character and proof of an honorable 
discharge from the service, he may, on application, be 
admitted to citizenship. 

What privilege is accorded alien seamen of merchant 
vessels who make application to become citizens? 

If an alien seaman has served three years on board a 
merchant vessel of the United States and can produce a 
certificate of honorable discharge and good conduct 
during service, he may, on making his declaration of 
intention, make also his application for citizenship. Every 
such seaman is deemed a citizen after the filing of his 
declaration of intention to become a citizen. 

What is the law as to citizenship of minors born of 
alien parentage? 

The children of naturalized parents, if they were under 


NATURALIZATION 


23 


age at the time of their parents’ naturalization, are con¬ 
sidered citizens of the United States. 

What is the law as to the citizenship of children, 
born abroad, whose parents are citizens of the United 
States? 

They are also citizens of the United States. 

What provision is made relative to the widow and 
minor children of an alien who, having made his de¬ 
claration of intention, dies before he is actually na¬ 
turalized? 

His widow and minor children may, by complying with 
other provisions of the Naturalization Act, be naturalized 
without making any declaration of intention. 

Can citizenship certificates be canceled after they 
have once been granted? 

It is considered in law priina facie evidence of a lack of 
intention on the part of an alien to become a permanent 
citizen of the United States if, within five years after the 
issuance of his certificate, he returns to the country of his 
nativity, or goes to any other foreign country, and takes 
permanent residence therein. Moreover, in the absence of 
countervailing evidence, such fact is sufficient to authorize 
the cancellation of his certificate as fraudulent, and the 
diplomatic and consular officers of the United States in 
foreign countries are admonished through the Depart¬ 
ment of State to furnish the Department of Justice with 
the names of those, within their respective jurisdiction, 
who have such certificates of citizenship, and who have 
taken permanent residence in the country of their na¬ 
tivity or in any other foreign country; which state¬ 
ments, duly certified, are admissible in evidence in all 
courts in proceedings to cancel certificates of citizenship. 

What are the penalties for issuing and procuring 
fraudulent certificates of citizenship? 

Any person who knowingly procures naturalization in 
violation of the provisions of the Naturalization Act may 


24 CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES 


be fined not more than five thousand dollars, or may be 
imprisoned for not more than five years, or both; and 
upon conviction, the court in which such conviction is 
had is authorized to adjudge and declare the final order 
admitting such person to citizenship void. Moreover, any 
person, who knowingly aids, advises, or encourages any 
person, not entitled thereto, to apply or to secure naturali¬ 
zation, or to file the preliminary papers declaring an intent 
to become a citizen of the United States, or who in any 
naturalization proceeding knowingly procures or gives 
false testimony as to any material fact required to be 
proved in such proceeding, may be fined not more than 
five thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than 
five years, or both. No person, however, may be prose¬ 
cuted, tried or punished for any crime arising under the 
provisions of the Naturalization Act unless the indictment 
is found, or the information filed, within five years next 
after the commission of such crime. 

What provision has been made in the Naturaliza¬ 
tion Act to prohibit the issuance of fraudulent certi¬ 
ficates? 

All blank certificates to be used in naturalization pro¬ 
ceedings are now issued by the Bureau of Immigration 
and Naturalization, and clerks of courts must account for 
all certificates of citizenship issued to them by the Bureau. 
If a certificate of citizenship is defaced or injured in 
such manner as to prevent its use, it cannot be destroyed, 
but must be returned to the Bureau. In case any clerk 
should fail to return or properly account for any certi¬ 
ficate furnished by the Bureau, he is liable to the United 
States in the sum of fifty dollars, to be recovered in an 
action of debt for each and every certificate not properly 
accounted for or returned. It is also the duty of the 
Clerk of the Court to send to the Bureau at Washington 
duplicate copies of each certificate of a declaration of 
intention and of all petitions issued by the court afifecting 
or relating to the naturalization of aliens within thirty 
days after issuing same. 


THE PRESIDENT 


25 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 

What is the United States as to its form of gov¬ 
ernment ? 

It is a representative democracy—a form of govern¬ 
ment in which the people rule through representatives of 
their own choosing. 

What are the powers of government? 

Legislative or law-making; executive or law-enforcing; 
and judicial or law-interpreting. 

What is the fundamental law in the government of 
the United States. 

The written Constitution. 

What great principle is laid down in the Constitu¬ 
tion as to the powers of government? 

That each shall be separately and independently ad¬ 
ministered. 


THE PRESIDENT 

Who may become president of the United States? 

Any native-born citizen may be elected by the people 
to serve as the nation’s Chief Executive. 

How is the President elected? 

In accordance with the Constitution, by an electoral 
college, the members of which are elected by the people 
of each State to represent the State in the election of 
the President. The members of the electoral college are 
termed Presidential electors. 

What is the date fixed by Congress for the election 
of Presidential electors? 

The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November 
in the year of a Presidential election. 


26 CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES 


When and where do the members of the electoral 
college meet? 

The second Monday in the January following their elec¬ 
tion, the Presidential electors of each State meet as a rule 
in their own State capital and there cast their votes for 
President and Vice-President, on separate ballots. 

How is the vote of the electoral college determined? 

The vote of each State is sealed in a box and sent by 
mail to the President of the Senate at Washington. A 
duplicate vote is also sent by special messenger from 
each State, and delivered in person to the President of 
the Senate. The vote of all the States is counted by tellers 
in the presence of both Houses of Congress, on the second 
Wednesday in February. 

How is it that it is possible to determine the election 
of a President and Vice-President before the counting 
of the electoral votes? 

This possibility is due to the fact that the members of 
the electoral college are pledged, before their election, to 
vote in the college for certain candidates, if elected. 

Can a President and a Vice-President be elected 
from the same State? 

No. 

What is the President’s term of office? 

Four years, with the possibility of re-election. 

What becomes of a President after his term of office 
has expired? 

He retires to the life of a private citizen, the govern¬ 
ment making no provision for ex-Presidents. 

In case of the President’s death or inability to per¬ 
form the duties of office, who then assumes control? 

The Vice-President, who is elected at the same time 
as the President and for the same term. 


THE PRESIDENT 


27 

In case of the Vice-President’s death or inability to 
perform the duties of office, who assumes control? 

In accordance with a law passed by Congress, called 
the Presidential Succession Act, the members of the cab¬ 
inet in the following order: the Secretary of State, the 
Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of War, the 
Attorney-General, the Postmaster-General, the Secretary 
of the Navy, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary 
of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Commerce and 
Labor. 

Can the President be removed from office? 

All civil officers of the United States, including the 
President, may be removed from office by impeachment 
proceedings. 

What is meant by impeachment of an officer? 

It is to accuse him of high crimes and misdemeanors 
as a public office-holder, and to place him on trial before 
the proper court. 

What are the principal functions of the Presidential 
office? 

According to the Constitution, the President is Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, and of the 
several State militias when actually in the service of the 
country; he is empowered to grant pardons and reprieves 
for crimes against the United States, except in cases of 
impeachment; he may, with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, make treaties, appoint ambassadors, public min¬ 
isters and consuls, Supreme and other United States 
Court Judges, and all United States officers whose ap¬ 
pointments are not otherwise provided for; he must, from 
time to time, give to Congress information of the state of 
the Union and recommend for its consideration such 
measures or laws as he may judge necessary and expe¬ 
dient; he may also express his disapprobation of the acts 
of Congress through the exercise of his veto power; he 
must receive ambassadors and other public ministers, 
and see that all laws are faithfully executed. 


28 CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES 


When is the President inaugurated? 

On March 4th after his election. 

What oath of office is taken by the President before 
entering upon his duties? 

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully 
execute the office of President of the United States, and 
will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and de¬ 
fend the Constitution of the United States.” 

Where is the official residence of the President? 

The President, with his family, during his term of 
office, occupies the Executive Mansion, at Washington, 
District of Columbia, known as the “White House.” 
Here he receives and entertains distinguished visitors and 
diplomats, and on stated occasions public receptions are 
held. The White House and grounds, are, as a rule, open 
to visitors every day in the week, except Sunday. 

Where does the President transact official business? 

In offices attached to the White House, where also 
meetings of the Cabinet are held, and visitors received. 

What official title is given to the President, and how 
is he distinguished from other citizens? 

His official title in office is simply “Mr. President,” 
and in no way is he distinguished from other citizens; he 
wears no robe of office, no uniform, no regalia. There is 
no attempt, indeed, in any way on the part of the Presi¬ 
dent or the government to surround the Presidential office 
with any display of show, pomp, or extravagance. The 
President, while shown all the deference due to his high 
office, is, nevertheless, first, last, and always one of the 
people. 


THE PRESIDENT’S CABINET 

What is the President’s Cabinet? 

It is a body composed of heads of the several executive 
departments of the national government, meeting in con- 



WHITE HOUSE, MAIN ENTRANCE, WASHINGTON, D. C 
















30 CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES 


sultation with the President. It is not an official body; 
it has no part in legislation, nor is it mentioned in the 
Constitution. 

How have the executive departments of the govern¬ 
ment been created? 

By Congress, as the growth and development of the 
country have demanded. 

How many members are there in the Cabinet? 

Since 1903, when the Department of Commerce and 
Labor was created, the Cabinet has been composed of 
nine members, viz.: the Secretary of State, the Secretary 
of the Treasury, the Secretary of War, the Attorney- 
General, the Postmaster-General, the Secretary of the 
Navy, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of 
Agriculture, and the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. 

How are the Cabinet members selected? 

They are selected and appointed by the President, by 
and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 

For how long a time do they hold office? 

They are appointed for no definite period, being subject 
at all times to the pleasure of the President and his power 
of removal. It is customary, however, for all members of 
the Cabinet to resign on the incoming of a new President, 
as it is intended that each President shall be free to select 
as members of his official family, such men as are pleasing 
to him, and will, in his opinion, give honor and credit to 
his administration. 


CIVIL SERVICE 

By what method are government employees se¬ 
lected? 

About half of them through what is known as the 
Classified Civil Service. Others hold their office through 
political appointment. 


CONGRESS 


31 


What is the Classified Civil Service? 

It is a method of filling positions by means of com¬ 
petitive examinations, held at least twice a year in the 
District of Columbia and the various States and Terri¬ 
tories. For appointments at Washington, there is an 
apportionment among the States on the basis of popu¬ 
lation. 

Are these examinations open to all citizens? 

Yes; without discrimination as to sex, color, political 
or religious opinions. 

Who has charge and control of the Civil Service 
examinations? 

The Civil Service Commission. 

What is the Civil Service Commission, and how are 
its members appointed? 

It is a commission of three members, created by act 
of Congress in 1883 to improve the Civil Service of the 
government. Its members are appointed by the Presi¬ 
dent, with the condition that only two of them may belong 
to the same political party. They are responsible for all 
rules and regulations governing the Civil Service ex¬ 
aminations. 

How may one gain information as to the rules and 
regulations of the Classified Civil Service? 

A manual of information will be furnished to any one 
upon application to the Civil Service Commission at 
Washington, D. C. 


CONGRESS 

What is the Congress of the United States? 

It is the legislative or law-making body of the national 
government, and consists of a Senate and House of Rep¬ 
resentatives. In this body all legislative powers granted 
in the Constitution are vested. 


32 CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES 

How are the members of Congress elected? 

The members of the Senate are elected by the State 
Legislatures, the Constitution providing that each State 
be represented by two senators. The members of the 
House of Representatives are elected by the people from 
the congressional districts of the States, one member 
being elected from each district. 

Into how many congressional districts is a State 
divided? 

It depends upon its population and the ratio of appor¬ 
tionment, with the exception that the Constitution pro¬ 
vides that every State, whether its population equals the 
ratio of apportionment or not, shall have at least one 
Representative. 

What is meant by the ratio of apportionment? 

It is the number of inhabitants entitled to one repre¬ 
sentative in Congress—that number being fixed by 
Congress every tenth year after each official census. It 
is the duty of each .State Legislature, on learning the 
ratio fixed by Congress, to divide its territory into as 
many congressional districts as the population and the 
ratio permit. 

Under what conditions does a State have a repre¬ 
sentative at large? 

When the population of a State entitles it to but one 
representative, this one represents the people of the 
State at large. And when the population of a State has 
been divided by the ratio of apportionment and the num¬ 
ber of congressional districts determined, if the fraction 
remaining is more than half the ratio, that State is 
entitled to another representative who represents the 
State at large. 

What is the term of office of a United States Sen¬ 
ator, and what are his necessary qualifications? 

The term of office of a Senator is six years. He must 
have attained the age of thirty years, have been nine 


CONGRESS 


33 

years a citizen of the United States, and, when elected, an 
inhabitant of the State from which elected. 

What is the term of office of a Representative, and 
what are his necessary qualifications? 

The term of office of a representative or Congressman 
is for two years. He must have attained the age of 
twenty-five years, have been seven years a citizen of the 
United States, and, when elected, an inhabitant of the 
State from which elected. 

May Senators and Representatives be re-elected at 
the expiration of their term? 

Yes; as often as their constituents choose to elect them. 

Who is the presiding officer of the Senate? 

The Vice-President of the United States, by virtue of 
his office. Not being a member of the Senate, he has 
no vote, except in case of a tie. The Senate always 
elects, however, a president pro tempore, who serves in 
the absence of the Vice-President. 

Who is the presiding officer of the House of Rep= 
resentatives ? 

A member of the House, elected from the body of 
Representatives, and termed the Speaker. 

Why is the Senate never dissolved? 

According to Constitutional provision. Senators are 
divided into three classes, the terms of one-third expiring 
every two years. The purpose of this arrangement is to 
keep the Senate always in existence. 

What are the powers of Congress? 

They are defined in the Constitution, and include the 
adjustment of all questions which affect the nation as 
a whole, such as interstate and international relation¬ 
ships; the regulation of duties, imposts and excises, that 
they may be uniform throughout the United States; the 
making of laws affecting naturalization, coinage, post- 


34 CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES 


offices and post-roads; and the passing of such measures 
as affect the defence, protection and general welfare of 
the United States. 

When does Congress meet? 

By the terms of the Constitution, it must meet at least 
once every year, the first Monday in December being the 
date of its convening. This date can be changed only by 
Act of Congress. 

What is meant by long, short, and special sessions 
of Congress? 

The first session of a new Congress is termed the long 
session; the next session, which convenes in December of 
the second year, is termed the short session; any extra 
session, called by the President for a special purpose, is 
termed a special session. 

What is meant by the forming of a new Congress? 

As the members of the House of Representatives are 
elected for two years, and the terms of all members 
expire at the same time, a new Congress is said to be 
formed whenever a new House comes into existence. 
The First Congress, for instance, after the adoption of 
the Constitution, convened March 4, 1789—the year of 
Washington’s inauguration—and expired March 4, 1791. 
The fifty-ninth Congress, therefore, which ended March 
4, 1907, marked the dissolution of the fifty-ninth House 
of Representatives. 

What is meant by the “majority” and the “minority” 
in Congress? 

The party in power in either House is termed the 
“majority,” the members of all other parties being termed 
the “minority.” 

How is the work of Congress carried on? 

Largely through specially appointed committees upon 
whom devolves the detail work of legislation. In the 
Senate, the membership of each committee is determined 


CONGRESS 


35 


by ballot, while in the House the membership of commit¬ 
tees is determined by the Speaker. 

What is meant by the introduction of a bill in Con¬ 
gress? 

A bill is simply a draft of a proposed law, which may 
originate or be introduced in either House, it being the 
privilege and right of all members, either of the Senate 
or the House, to introduce bills. 

What is the method of procedure after a bill has 
been introduced? 

It is numbered, placed on file, and referred to the 
appropriate committee. 

Are bills carried over from one Congress to another? 

No; each Congress makes its own calendar. A bill, 
however, introduced into one Congress, and not acted 
upon, may be re-introduced into another Congress as a 
new bill. 

When does a bill become a law? 

When it has been read in each House three times, 
received a majority vote in, and been signed by the pre¬ 
siding officer of each House, and by the President. 

How may the President veto a bill? 

By returning it without his signature. 

How may a bill be passed over the President’s 
veto? 

By receiving, on reconsideration, a two-thirds vote in 
each House. 

When may a bill become a law without the Presi¬ 
dent’s signature, or without reconsideration? 

The Constitution gives to the President ten days in 
which to consider a bill, and affix his signature. In case 
he fails to return it within that time, with his signature, 
it becomes a law without such signature. 


36 CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES 


What special prerogative is given the House of 
Representatives ? 

The Constitution provides that “all bills for raising 
revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; 
but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments 
as on other bills.” The sole power of impeachment, by 
Constitutional provision, is also vested in the House of 
Representatives, though the Senate becomes the court 
for the trial of impeachments. 

STATE GOVERNMENT 

What is the governing law of a State? 

Its written constitution. 

Are all State constitutions alike? 

No; each State frames its own constitution, which 
must, however, in every case conform to the principles 
of government laid down in the national Constitution. 

What is the legislative or law-making body of a 
State? 

The State Legislature. 

How do State Legislatures compare with Congress? 

They are alike in form of organization; that is, all State 
Legislatures are composed of two houses, the upper 
house, invariably termed the Senate, and the lower house, 
the House of Representatives, or the Assembly. 

How is the membership of a State Legislature deter¬ 
mined? 

In most States the underlying principle determining the 
membership of both houses of a State Legislature is pro¬ 
portional representation, the State being divided into a 
certain number of senatorial and representative or assem¬ 
bly districts, each made to include, approximately, the 
number of inhabitants entitled to elect one representative. 
In the State of New York, the constitution provides that 
the State shall be divided into fifty senatorial and one 
hundred and fifty assembly districts, this number to re- 


STATE GOVERNMENT 


37 


main fixed regardless of the increase of the State’s popu¬ 
lation. In some of the New England States the town is 
made the unit of representation in the assembly, one 
representative being elected to represent each town with¬ 
out regard to population. This is not, of course, propor¬ 
tional representation. 

What provision is made for the changing of district 
boundaries with the changing and increase of popu¬ 
lation? 

State Legislatures are empowered at certain intervals 
to rearrange districts of representation in accordance with 
a ratio of apportionment based upon the principle of pro¬ 
portional representation. 

Who are the presiding officers in the houses of a 
State Legislature? 

The presiding officer of the Senate, termed the Presi¬ 
dent, is either the Lieutenant-Governor of the State or is 
elected from the membership of the body. The presiding 
officer of the House of Representatives, or Assembly, 
termed the Speaker, is invariably elected from the mem¬ 
bership of the body. 

How is the work of a State Legislature carried on? 

For the purpose of facilitating investigation of the 
State’s needs, and for consideration of proposed legis¬ 
lation, the membership of both houses is sub-divided 
into committees. In the making of laws, bills that have 
been introduced must pass through much the same course 
of procedure as in Congress. 

What are the powers of a State Legislature? 

To make such laws regulating personal and property 
relationships as affect the people of the State as a whole, 
and are not at variance with the State or national Con¬ 
stitution. 

How often do State Legislatures meet? 

This is determined either by the State constitution or 


38 CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES 


by State law. In some States the Legislature meets every 
year; in others, once in two years; and in a few States, 
only every third or fourth year. 

For how long a time are State Legislatures con¬ 
vened? 

In some States there is no time limit; in others, the 
number of days in which sessions may be held is fixed 
by law; and in a few States, if sessions are prolonged be¬ 
yond a certain number of days, no compensation is al¬ 
lowed for the extra time. 

Where is the principal business of a State trans¬ 
acted? 

In the Capitol Building, at the State’s capital. Here the 
Governor invariably has his office, and the sessions of 
the State Legislature are convened. 

What are some of the institutions provided for by 
State government? 

In all States there are charitable, penal, and reforma¬ 
tory institutions, controlled, administered and supported 
by the State. Many States also maintain State universi¬ 
ties, agricultural colleges, schools of mines, etc. 


THE GOVERNOR 

What is the official title given to the Governor of a 
State ? 

“His Excellency.” 

What are the powers of the chief executive of a 
State? 

The powers of the Governor, like those of the Presi¬ 
dent, are chiefly executive. He is responsible for the en¬ 
forcement of State laws; he has a veto power over State 
legislation, the power of pardon for State offences, and 
certain military authority, owing to his position as com¬ 
mander-in-chief of the State militia. 


THE GOVERNOR 


39 


What is a Governor’s term of office? 

There is no uniform rule; it varies in the different 
States from one to four years. 

How is a Governor elected? 

By direct vote of the people. 

Can he be removed from office? 

He may be if his acts warrant impeachment proceed¬ 
ings. 

Who is the Governor’s lawful successor in office 
in case of his death or inability to perform his duties? 

In the majority of States, the Lieutenant-Governor; 
otherwise the President of the Senate and the Speaker of 
the House, respectively. In the absence of the Governor 
from the State at any time, his duties may devolve upon 
the Lieutenant-Governor. 

How is the administrative work of State govern¬ 
ment carried on? 

In general, through the following State officers: a Sec¬ 
retary of State, State Treasurer, Attorney-General, and 
Comptroller or Auditor, whose duties are much the same 
in the various States, and are not dissimilar to those per¬ 
formed by the corresponding officers in the national gov¬ 
ernment. An additional officer in most of the States is 
the Superintendent of Public Instruction, sometimes 
termed the Commissioner of Education. There are also 
various boards or commissions appointed, to whom special 
administrative work is committed. 

Are these State officers elected or appointed? 

As a rule, they are elected by direct vote of the people, 
as is the Governor; therefore, they are in no way re¬ 
sponsible to him for the performance of their duties. 
There is no body in State organization corresponding to 
the President’s Cabinet. 


40 CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES 

LOCAL GOVERNMENT 

What are the local sub-divisions of a State’s gov¬ 
ernment? 

The township, the county, the village, and the city. 

What principle of State organization governs these 
local sub-divisions or political units? 

That each shall have the right to govern itself in all 
matters pertaining to local affairs. 

How is the territorial area of these units or divisions 
of government determined and fixed? 

In States of the Public Domain, the territorial extent 
of the township is uniform, being six miles square, or 
thirty-six square miles in area, made so by survey of the 
national government. In States outside the Public 
Domain, which were never uniformly surveyed, the 
boundaries of townships, or towns, are irregular in area, 
and are determined by State Legislature. So, likewise, 
are determined in all States the boundaries of county, 
village, and city. 

What are some of the functions of local govern¬ 
ment? 

The building and maintenance of school houses, high¬ 
ways and bridges, and the providing for such other local 
and public improvements as grow out of community life; 
the care of the poor and unfortunate; the enforcement 
of law and order, and the protection of life and property 
in the community. 

What is meant by incorporation of township, county, 
village, or city? 

There is a provision in the government of each State 
whereby, for political purposes, the township, the county, 
the village, or the city may become organized as a public 
corporation with the power to legislate or make laws 
within certain limits for local purposes, which laws are 
termed by-laws or ordinances. These political units, thus 


TAXATION 


41 


incorporated, may take and hold property for public use; 
may borrow money by the issuing of bonds, for the 
building of local public improvements; and do all other 
acts and things which public corporations may of right do. 

TAXATION 

What is the principle of taxation in local govern¬ 
ment? 

That each local community has the right to raise by 
taxation on the property within its boundaries, both real 
and personal, such sums as it may appropriate for local 
improvements and the carrying on of its local govern¬ 
ment. 

Does the State limit local communities as to the 
amount they may raise by taxation? 

In many States, according to constitutional provision, 
only a certain percentage of the valuation of its property 
can be levied against it by taxation. 

What is meant by special assessment taxes? 

The right is given to villages and cities to levy special 
assessment taxes, for the building of sidewalks, grading 
of streets, paving, etc., against abutting property. This 
is done on the theory that, while such improvements are 
of benefit to the general public, the benefit accrues more 
especially to the owners of such abutting property. 

How are taxes levied for the support of State gov¬ 
ernment? 

The government of a State, generally speaking, is sup¬ 
ported by direct taxation levied upon all property of the 
State, both real and personal. 

How is the valuation of the property of a State de¬ 
termined? 

By local assessors, who, having determined the valua¬ 
tion of the property, both real and personal, in township, 
village, and city, for the purpose of local taxation, make 


42 CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES 

returns of such valuation to the county officials, who in 
turn transmit the valuation of the entire county to the 
proper State official. The rate of taxation in the local 
community is fixed by local officials; the rate in the county 
is fixed by county officials, and in the State by State 
officials—all alike, based on the valuation of the local 
assessors. 

Who determines the amount of money to be raised 
by taxation for State purposes? 

The State Legislature. 

How are the taxes of State, county, and local com¬ 
munity collected? 

By a local officer termed the tax collector or treasurer. 
In some States taxpayers are notified when their taxes 
are due by receiving a tax bill, but as a rule, the taxpayer 
must go to the office of the tax collector or the treasurer 
in the community in which he lives in order to pay his 
taxes. Public notice is usually given of the time and 
place for paying taxes. 

What are the penalties in case taxes are not paid 
when due? 

The property may be sold for taxes to the highest 
bidder, and a penalty attached, and a high rate of interest 
is usually charged, when the owner thereof makes final 
settlement. In case he does not make this settlement 
within a certain specified time, it is the right of the person 
who holds that certificate, in some states, to demand from 
the proper officer in the community in which the tax is 
levied, a tax-deed, which deed, when placed on record, is 
a transfer of the title of the property in question to the 
certificate holder. In spite of this, a tax-deed is generally 
regarded as a questionable title to property, and such title 
can usually be set aside by legal proceedings. 

What special taxes do some States levy? 

Some States levy a tax for the license and sale of in¬ 
toxicating liquors; some a special tax on corporations; 
others have passed inheritance tax laws. 


ELECTIONS 


43 


How is the national government supported? 

By means of customs and internal revenues—an in¬ 
direct tax. The one is levied on goods imported from 
foreign countries, the other is levied on certain articles 
manufactured and sold in this country. 


ELECTIONS 

What is an election district? 

The election district is a voting precinct, all of the 
electors within whose boundaries cast their ballots in any 
election at one ballot-box center, termed the polls. A city 
is divided into many election districts, so arranged as that 
each may include, as nearly as possible, an equal number 
of voters. In some cities, the ward becomes the election 
district, while in many towns and villages one ballot-box 
or polling place is made to serve the entire number of 
voters. 

What must an elector do preparatory to an election 
in the election district in which he lives? 

In States requiring registration, he must register before 
the proper authorities on registration days. Notice of 
registration days, hours, and places is usually given in 
the newspapers. 

How does notice of an election come to an elector? 

Usually through newspaper publication. 

What is a primary or caucus? 

It is a meeting of party electors, held in an election 
district, for the purpose of nominating candidates, or 
electing delegates to a convention which shall nominate 
candidates preparatory to an election. 

Who may take part in a primary or caucus? 

Every elector in an election district may and should 
take part in the primary of his party. In some States, 
however, the law prohibits an elector from taking part 


44 CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES 


in a primary unless he has registered in the district as a 
party man. 

How does notice of the primary come to an elector? 

In some states the law requires newspaper publication 
of primary meetings, as of elections. In States where 
there is no such law, the issuing of notice of the primary 
is left entirely to party leaders. 

How is the primary conducted? 

The law in some States prescribes the conduct of the 
primary as well as of the election. It states when, and 
the hours during which it shall be held; prescribes the 
method of electing delegates or nominating candidates; 
and in other ways insures to the elector the same rights 
in the primary as in the election. In States where the 
primary is not controlled by law, its conduct is entirely 
in the hands of party leaders. 

What is meant by direct primary nomination? 

It means the direct nomination of all candidates, for 
any and every office, in the primary. Under this method, 
every voter is as free to nominate his candidates as to 
elect them. The purpose of such a law is to prevent any 
one man or set of men from slating a ticket and thus con¬ 
trolling the primary. 

What is a political convention? 

It is a meeting of delegates from the primaries, or of 
delegates from one convention to another, for the pur¬ 
pose of placing in nomination candidates for an election. 

For what purpose are district conventions held? 

For the nomination of candidates to represent the dis¬ 
trict ; a Congressman is nominated in a congressional dis¬ 
trict convention, a State Senator in a State senatorial 
district convention, and an Assemblyman in a State As¬ 
sembly district convention. 


ELECTIONS 


45 


What is the business of a county convention? 

To nominate candidates preparatory to a county elec¬ 
tion, or to elect delegates from the county to some other 
political convention, such as a district or State convention. 

What is the business of a State convention? 

To nominate candidates for State offices preparatory to 
a State election; to frame the platform of the party in 
the State, and at stated times to elect delegates to a na¬ 
tional convention. 

What is the business of a national convention? 

To nominate a President and Vice-President, and to 
draw up and adopt a party platform. 

What is the Australian ballot system? 

It is a system of voting which takes its name from the 
country where it was first introduced. The chief merit 
of this system lies in the fact that it practically insures 
to the voter a secret ballot. It provides that the names 
of all candidates in an election, of whatever party, shall 
be printed on one ballot at public expense. As the names 
of all candidates in a single party appear in one column, 
it is only necessary for the voter, who would vote a 
straight party ticket, to mark a cross in the circle under the 
name or emblem adopted by his party. To vote a split 
ticket, it is necessary for the voter to indicate his choice 
by putting a cross opposite the name of every candidate 
he wishes elected. In this system, every ballot is num¬ 
bered, and all ballots must be accounted for by the elec¬ 
tion officers at the close of the election. Sample ballots, 
differing only in color from the official ones, which are 
invariably white, are distributed at the polls for the en¬ 
lightenment of voters, who may thus examine the ticket 
before entering the private booth to prepare the official 
ballot. 

Who pays the expenses of an election? 

The expense of providing polling places, voting booths, 
and supplies therefor, and the compensation of election 


46 CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES 


officers in each election district, is a charge upon the town, 
city, village, or county in which the election is held. So, 
likewise, is the expense of delivering and printing the 
sample ballots, cards of instruction, poll books, tally 
sheets, and return sheets for inspectors and ballot clerks. 

COURTS 

What court is established by the Constitution of the 
United States? 

The Supreme Court; while power to establish inferior 
courts is vested in Congress. 

What inferior courts have been established by Con¬ 
gress? 

Nine circuit courts, nine circuit courts of appeal, and 
ninety district courts. In addition to these, two special 
courts have been established at Washington, termed the 
Court of Claims, and the Court of Public Land Claims. 

How many judges constitute the Supreme Court? 

The present number is nine, one of whom is termed the 
Chief Justice. 

Can the number of judges in the Supreme Court be 
increased or diminished? 

Yes; it is within the power of Congress to determine 
the number of Supreme Court judges. 

Where are the sessions of the Supreme Court held? 

In the Capitol Building at Washington, D. C. 

What are circuit courts? 

The territory of the United States is divided into nine 
circuits, in , each of which is a circuit court, and to each 
of which are appointed three judges. These three judges, 
in conjunction with the Justice of the Supreme Court, 
having jurisdiction over that circuit, constitute a court 
of appeals in that circuit. 


COURTS 


47 


What are district courts? 

Each State constitutes at least one judicial district in 
which is a United States court presided over by a United 
States District Judge. The more populous States are 
divided into two, three, or more districts, each having a 
district judge. 

How are the judges of the United States courts 
chosen? 

They are appointed by the President with the advice 
and consent of the Senate. 

For how long a time are they appointed? 

For life, or during good behavior. 

What are the other officers of the United States 
courts ? 

In each judicial district is a United States District At¬ 
torney and a United States Marshal, appointed by the 
President. 

What courts have been established by the States? 

Each State establishes its own judicial system. There 
is usually in each State a supreme or superior court, 
circuits, and district or county courts. The county, as a 
rule, is a court district, and in addition to the county 
court, contains also a probate or surrogate’s court. 

What other courts are there in a State? 

In cities there are city or municipal courts, while in 
villages and townships there are justices’ courts, presided 
over by justices of the peace. 

How are the judges of State courts chosen? 

In some States they are appointed by the Governor for 
life, or during good behavior; in other States they are 
elected for a certain term by the people. 

What are the other officers of the State courts? 

In each State there is a State’s Attorney, or Attorney- 
General, and in each county a District Attorney and a 
Sheriff. These officers are usually elected by the people. 



Appendix 


POPULATION 

The first census, or enumeration of the population of the 
United States, was taken in the year 1790, and according to the 
Constitution a similar census must be taken once in every ten 
years. 

The following table gives the census of population for each 
year in which it has been taken: 


1790. 2,929,214 

igoo. 5,308,483 

1810. 7,239,881 

1S20. 9,633,822 

1830. 12,866,020 

1840. 18,069,452 

1850. 23,191,876 

i860. 31,443,321 

1870. 38,558,371 

1880. 50,155,783 

1890. 62,622,250 

1900. 76,303,387 


The census enumeration of the population in 1900 included the 
population of Alaska, but not the population of the insular 
possessions. Adding to this the population of the Philippines 
(1903), 7,635,426; Porto Rico, 953,243; Hawaii, 154,001; Guam, 
8,661; American Samoa, 5,800; gives a total population of 85,- 
271,093. 

The following table shows the nativity of the foreign born 
population (male), twenty-one years of age and over in the 
United States, according to the 1900 census: 

According to the census returns of 1900, there were in the 
United States, at that time, 21,329,819 male citizens, twenty-one 
years of age and upward. This included the population of Alaska, 
Hawaii, and the various Indian Reservations. Of this number, 
there were native born, 16,227,285; foreign born, 5,102,534. The 
total white population in these two classes was 19,036,148; the 
negro population, 2,065,989, and the combined population of the 
Chinese, Japanese and Indians, 227,687. 

Germans . 1,332,359 

Irish .. 725,692 

Canadians (English) . 342,689 

“ (French) . 164.781 507,470 



















11 . 


APPENDIX 


English ... 
Swedes ... 
Italians ... 
Norwegians 
Russians .. 
Austrians . 
Scots . 


Poles (German) . 63,842 

“ (Austrian) . 30,161 

“ (Russian) . 79,574 

“ (Unknown) . 9,97i 


Chinese . 

Danes . 

Hungarians . 

Bohemians . 

Swiss . 

Japanese . 

French . 

Welsh . 

Hollanders . 

Mexicans . 

Finlanders . 

Portuguese . 

Belgians . 

West Indians .... 

Greeks . 

Asiatics . 

Roumanians . 

Turks . 

Atlantic Islanders 

Spaniards . 

Cubans . 

Born at Sea. 

Australians . 

South Americans . 
Central Americans 
Luxemburgians ... 
Other Countries .. 

Africans . 

Europeans . 

Pacific Islanders .. 
Indians . 


419,540 

296,303 

253,130 

174,480 

173,149 

143,669 

116,899 


153,548 

99,754 

83,235 

72,986 

70,547 

63,524 

59,450 

55,283 

46,568 

45,661 

45,126 

35,076 

18,892 

15,060 

6,926 

6,349 

5,672 

5,604 

5,559 

5,495 

5,087 

4,758 

4,204 

3,207 

2,173 

1,910 

1,816 

1,625 

1,259 

1,170 

1,169 

1,150 












































APPENDIX 


iii. 

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 

The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States 

OF America 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary 
for one people to dissolve the political bands which have con¬ 
nected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of 
the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of 
nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the 
opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes 
which impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created 
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain un¬ 
alienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit 
of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are 
instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the 
consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government 
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people 
to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government; laying 
its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in 
such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety 
and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments 
long established should not be changed for light and transient 
causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind 
are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to 
right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are 
accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, 
pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce 
them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, 
to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for 
their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of 
these colonies, and such is now the necessity which constrains 
them to alter their former systems of government. The history 
of the present king of Great Britain is a history of repeated 
injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establish¬ 
ment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, 
let facts be submitted to a candid world: 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and 
necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and 
pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his 
assent should be obtained; and, when so suspended, he has utterly 
neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of 
large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the 
right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to 
them, and formidable to tyrants only. 


IV. 


APPENDIX 


He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, 
uncomfortable and distant from the depository of their public 
records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance 
with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing 
with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to 
cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, in¬ 
capable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for 
their exercise; the State remaining, in the meantime, exposed to 
all the dangers of invasions from without, and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; 
for that purpose obstructing the laws for the naturalization of 
foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations 
hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his 
assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure 
of their offices, and the amount of payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither 
swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their 
substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, 
without the consent of our legislatures. 

He has affected to render the military independent of and 
superior to the civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction 
foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; 
giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislations; 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us; 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any 
murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these 
States; 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world; 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent; 

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of trial by jury; 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended 
offences; 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring 
province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and 
enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example 
and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into 
these colonies; 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable 
laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments; 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves 
invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his 
■protection, and waging war against us. 


APPENDIX 


V. 


He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our 
towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mer¬ 
cenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, 
already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely 
paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the 
head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the 
high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the 
executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves 
by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrection among us, and has en¬ 
deavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless 
Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undis¬ 
tinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for 
redress in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have 
been answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose character 
is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit 
to be the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in our attentions to our British 
brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts 
by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over 
us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigra¬ 
tion and settlement here. We have appealed to their native 
justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties 
of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which 
would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. 
They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and con¬ 
sanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which 
denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of 
mankind; enemies in war, in peace friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of 
America, in general Congress assembled, appealing to the Su¬ 
preme judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, 
in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these 
colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these United Colonies 
are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that 
they are absolved from the allegiance to the British crown, and 
that all political connection between them and the state of Great 
Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that as free and 
independent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude 
peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and^ do all other 
acts and things which independent States may of right do. And 
for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the 
protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each 
other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 

JOHN HANCOCK, and fifty-four other signers. 


VI. 


APPENDIX 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 

Preamble 

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more 
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, pro¬ 
vide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and 
secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do 
ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of 
America. 

Article I. Legislative Department 
Section I. Congress in General 

All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a 
Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate 
and House of Representatives. 

Section II. House of Representatives 

1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of mem¬ 
bers chosen every second year by the people of the several States, 
and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications 
requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State 
legislature. 

2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have 
attained the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a 
citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, 
be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among 
the several States which may be included within this Union, 
according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined 
by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those 
bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not 
taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration 
shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the 
Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term 
of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The 
number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty 
thousand, but each State shall have at least one Representative; 
and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New 
Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five. 
New York six. New lersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware 
one, Maryland six, Virginia ten. North Carolina five. South Caro¬ 
lina five, and Georgia three. 

4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any 
State, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election 
to fill such vacancies. 

5. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker 
and other officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment. 


APPENDIX 


vii. 


Section III. Senate 

1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
Senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for 
six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. 

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence 
of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be 
into three classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class 
shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year; of the 
second class, at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the 
third class, at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one-third 
may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by 
resignation or otherwise during the recess of the legislature of 
any State, the executive thereof may make temporary appoint¬ 
ments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then 
fill such vacancies. 

3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained 
to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the 
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant 
of that State for which he shall be chosen. 

4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President 
of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally 
divided. 

5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a 
President pro tempore in the absence of the Vice-President, or 
when he shall exercise the office of President of the United 
States. 

6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeach¬ 
ments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or 
affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, 
the Chief Justice shall preside: and no person shall be convicted 
without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present. 

7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further 
than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and 
enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United 
States; but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and 
subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according 
to law. 


Section IV. Both Houses 

1. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for 
Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State 
by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time 
by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of 
choosing Senators. 

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, 
and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, 
unless they shall by law appoint a different day. 


APPENDIX 


viii. 


Section V. The Houses Separately 

1. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and 
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall 
constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may 
adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the 
attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such 
penalties, as each house may provide. 

2. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, 
punish its members for disorderly behavior, and with the con¬ 
currence of two-thirds, expel a member. 

3. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and 
from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may 
in their judgment require secrecy, and the yeas and nays of the 
members of either house on any question shall, at the desire of 
one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. 

4. Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, with¬ 
out the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, 
nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall 
be sitting. 

Section VI. Privileges and Disabilities of Members 

1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compen¬ 
sation for their services, to be ascertained by law and paid out 
of the Treasury of the United States. They shall, in all cases 
except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged 
from arrest during their attendance at the session of their re¬ 
spective houses, and in going to and returning from the same; 
and for any speech or debate in either house they shall not be 
questioned in any other place. 

2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for 
which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the 
authority of the United States, which shall have been created, 
or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during 
such time; and no person holding any office under the United 
States shall be a member of either house during his continuance 
in office. 

Section VII. Mode of Passing Laws 

1. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of 
Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with 
amendments as on other bills. 

2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives and the Senate shall, before it become a law, be pre¬ 
sented to the President of the United States; if he approve he 
shall sign it, but if not be shall return it, with his objections, to 
that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the 
objections at large on their journal and proceed to reconsider 
it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds of that house shall 
agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objec- 


APPENDIX ix. 

tions, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be recon¬ 
sidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that house it shall 
become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses 
shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the 
persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the 
journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be re¬ 
turned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) 
after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a 
law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress 
by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall 
not be a law. 

3. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence 
of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary 
(except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the 
President of the United States; and before the same shall take 
effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, 
shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of 
Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed 
in the case of a bill. 

Section VIII. Powers Granted to Congress 

The Congress shall have power: 

1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay 
the debts and provide for the common defense and general 
welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts, and excises 
shall be uniform throughout the United States; 

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States; 

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the 
several States, and with the Indian tribes 

4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform 
laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States; 

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign 
coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures; 

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securi¬ 
ties and current coin of the United States; 

7. To establish post-offices and post-roads; 

8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts by se¬ 
curing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive 
right to their respective writings and discoveries; 

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court; 

10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on 
the high seas and offenses against the law of nations ; 

11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and 
make rules concerning captures on land and water; 

12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money 
to that use shall be for a longer term than two years; 

13. To provide and maintain a navy; 

14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the 
land and naval forces; 


X. 


APPENDIX 


15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws 
of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions; 

16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the 
militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed 
in the service of the United States, reserving to the States re¬ 
spectively the appointment of the officers, and the authority of 
training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Con¬ 
gress ; 

17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever 
over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by 
cession of particular States and the acceptance of Congress, be¬ 
come the seat of the Government of the United States, and to 
exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent 
of the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the 
erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other need¬ 
ful buildings; and 

18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for 
carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other 
powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the 
United States, or in any department or officer thereof. 

Section IX. Pozvers Denied to the United States 

1. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the 
States now existing shall think proper to admit shall not be pro¬ 
hibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight 
hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such 
importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person, 

2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus¬ 
pended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public 
safety may require it. 

3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

4. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in the 
proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to 
be taken. 

5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any 
State. 

6. No preference shall be given l)y any regulation of com¬ 
merce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another; 
nor shall vessels bound to or from one State be obliged to enter, 
clear, or pay duties in another. 

7. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in conse¬ 
quence of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement 
and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money 
shall be published from time to time. 

8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States; 
and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them 
shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, 
emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, 
prince, or foreign State. 


APPENDIX 


XI. 


' Section X. Powers Denied to the States 

1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confedera¬ 
tion; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit 
bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender 
in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, 
or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of 
nobility. 

2. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any 
imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be 
absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the 
net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on im¬ 
ports or exports, shall be for the use of the Treasury of the 
United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision 
and control of the Congress. 

3. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any 
duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, 
enter into any agreement or compact with another State or with 
a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded or in 
such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. 

Article II. Executive Department 
Section /. President and Vice-President 

1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the 
United States of America. He shall hold his office during the 
term of four years, and together with the Vice-President, chosen 
for the same term, be elected as follows: 

2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature 
thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole 
number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may 
be entitled in the Congress; but no Senator or Representative 
or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United 
States, shall be appointed an elector. 

3. [The electors shall meet in their respective States and vote 
by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an 
inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall 
make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of 
votes for each ; which list they shall sign and certify, and trans¬ 
mit sealed to the seat of government of the United States, 
directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the 
Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Rep¬ 
resentatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then 
be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes 
shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the 
whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more than 
one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, 
then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by 
ballot one of them for President; and if no person have a 
majority, then from the five highest on the list the said House 


XU. 


APPENDIX 


shall in like manner choose the President. But in choosing the 
President the votes shall be taken by States, the representation 
from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose 
shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the 
States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a 
choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the 
person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall 
be the Vice-President. But if there should remain two or more 
who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by 
ballot the Vice-President.] • 

4. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the 
electors and the day on which they shall give their votes, which 
day shall be the same throughout the United States. 

5. No person except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the 
United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, 
shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any 
person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to 
the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident 
within the United States. 

6. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of 
his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and 
duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice- 
President, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of 
removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President 
and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as 
President, and such officer shall act accordingly until the dis¬ 
ability be removed or a President shall be elected. 

7. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services 
a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished 
during the period for which he may have been elected, and he 
shall not receive within that period any other emolument from 
the United States, or any of them. 

8. Before he enter on the execution of his office he shall take 
the following oath or affirmation : 

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that 1 will faithfully execute 
the office of President of the United States, and will to the best 
of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of 
the United States.” 

Section II. Pozvers of the President 

I. The President shall be Commander-in-chief of the Army 
and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several 
States when called into the actual service of the United States; 
he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in 
each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to 
the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to 
grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United 
States, except in cases of impeachment. 


APPENDIX 


xiii. 

2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent 
of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Sen¬ 
ators present concur; and he shall nominate, and, by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassa¬ 
dors, other public ministers and counsels, judges of the Supreme 
Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appoint¬ 
ments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall 
be established by law; but the Congress may by law vest the 
appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in 
the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of de¬ 
partments. 

3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that 
may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting com¬ 
missions which shall expire at the end of their next session. 

Section III. Duties of the President 
He shall from time to time give to the Congress information 
of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration 
such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he 
may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both houses, or either 
of them, and in case of disagreement between them with re¬ 
spect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to 
such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassa¬ 
dors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the 
laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers 
of the United States. 

Section IV. Impeachment 

The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the 
United States shall be removed from office on impeachment 
for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and 
misdemeanors. 

Article HI. Judicial Department 
Section I. United States Courts 
The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in 
one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress 
may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both 
of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices dur¬ 
ing good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their 
services a compensation which shall not be diminished during 
their continuance in office. 

Section II. Jurisdiction of the United States Courts 
I. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and 
equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United 
States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their 
authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public minis¬ 
ters, and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime juris- 


XIV. 


APPENDIX 


diction ; to controversies to which the United States shall be a 
party; to controversies between two or more States; between a 
State and citizens of another State; between citizens of different 
States; between citizens of the same State claiming lands under 
grants of different States, and between a State, or the citizens 
thereof, and foreign States, citizens or subjects. 

2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers 
and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the 
Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other 
cases before mentioned the Supreme Court shall have appellate 
jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and 
under such regulations as the Congress shall make. 

3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, 
shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where 
the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not com¬ 
mitted within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places 
as the Congress may by law have directed. 

Section III. Treason 

If Treason against the United States shall consist only in 
levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving 
them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason 
unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, 
or on confession in open court. 

2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment 
of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of 
blood or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted. 

Article IV. The States and the Federal Government 
Section /. State Records 

Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public 
acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. 
And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in 
which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and 
the effect thereof. 

Section II. Privileges of Citizens, Etc. 

1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges 
and immunities of citizens in the several States. 

2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or 
other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another 
State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State 
from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State 
having jurisdiction of the crime. 

3. No person held to service or labor in one State, under the 
laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any 
law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or 
labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom 
such service or labor may be due. 


APPENDIX 


XV. 


Section III. New States and Territories 

1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this 
Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the 
jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the 
junction of two or more States or parts of States, without the 
consent of the legislatures of the States concerned as well as of 
the Congress. 

2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all 
needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other 
property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this 
Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of 
the United States or of any particular State. 

Section IV. Guarantee to the States 

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union 
a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them 
against invasion, and on application of the legislature or of the 
executive (when the legislature cannot be convened), against 
domestic violence. 

Article V. Power of Amendment 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem 
it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, 
on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several 
States, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which 
in either case shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part 
of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three- 
fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three-fourths 
thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be pro¬ 
posed by the Congress, provided that no amendments which 
may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and 
eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in 
the ninth section of the first article; and that no State, without 
its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 

Article VI. Public Debt, Supremacy of the Constitution, 
Oath of Office, Religious Test 

1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before 
the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the 
IJnited States under this Constitution as under the confedera- 
tion. 

2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which 
shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or 
which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, 
shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in^ every 
State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or 
laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 

3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and 
the members of the several State legislatures, and all executive 


XVI. 


APPENDIX 


and judicial officers both of the United States and of the several 
States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this 
Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a 
qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. 

Article VII. Ratification of the Constitution 

The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be 
sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the 
States so ratifying the same. 

AMENDMENTS 

Article I. 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging 
the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people 
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a 
redress of grievances. 

Article II. 

A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a 
free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall 
not be infringed. 

Article III. 

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house 
without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a 
manner to be prescribed by law. 

Article IV. 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, 
shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon prob¬ 
able cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly 
describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to 
be seized. 

Article V. 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a 
grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, 
or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public 
danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to 
be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled 
in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be de¬ 
prived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; 
nor shall private property be taken for public use without just 
compensation. 

Article VI. 

In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right 
to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state 


APPENDIX 


xvii. 


and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which 
district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to 
be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be 
confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory 
process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the 
assistance of counsel for his defence. 

Article VII. 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall 
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be pre¬ 
served, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-exam¬ 
ined in any court of the United States, than according to the 
rules of the common law. 


Article VIII. 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines im¬ 
posed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

Article IX. 

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall 
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the 
people. 

Article X. 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Con¬ 
stitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the 
States respectively or to the people. 

Article XI. 

The judicial power of the United States shall not be con¬ 
strued to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or 
prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of 
another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State. 

Article XII. 

I. The electors shall meet in their respective States and vote 
by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at 
least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with them¬ 
selves ; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as 
President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice- 
President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted 
for as President and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, 
and of the number of votes for each; which lists they shall sign 
and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government 
of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. 
The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate 
and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the 
votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest 
number of votes for President shall be the President, if such 
number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; 


APPENDIX 


xviii. 

and if no person have such majority, then from the persons 
having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of 
those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall 
choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing 
the President the votes shall be taken by States, the represen¬ 
tation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this pur¬ 
pose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of 
the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to 
a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose 
a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon 
them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the 
Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death 
or other constitutional disability of the President. 

2. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice- 
President shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a 
majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no 
person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on 
the list the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum 
for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number 
of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be neces¬ 
sary to a choice. 

3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of 
President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United 
States. 

Article XHI. 

1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a 
punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly 
convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place 
subject to their jurisdiction. 

2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro¬ 
priate legislation. 

Article XIV. 

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and 
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United 
States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall 
make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or 
immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State 
deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due 
process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the 
equal protection of the laws. 

2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several 
States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole 
number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. 
But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of 
electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, 
Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers 
of a State, or the members or the legislature thereof, is denied 


APPENDIX 


XIX. 


to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one 
years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way 
abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the 
basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion 
which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole 
number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 

3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Con¬ 
gress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any 
office, civil or military, under the United States or under any 
State, who, having previously taken an oath as a member of 
Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member 
of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of 
any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall 
have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or 
given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, 
by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability. 

4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, au¬ 
thorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pen¬ 
sions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or 
rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States 
nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred 
in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or 
any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such 
debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate 
legislation, the provisions of this article. 

Article XV. 

1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not 
be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on 
account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation. 


V 





I 

» 


1 i- 


« 


» 


• » 
> . W 

t 

4 


I 

I 


1 

. » 


•> 


1-r, 


41 . j 






I 


. I ^ 



¥ 

f 


» 



I 


f 


« 




4 





1 




l» 


■.♦ 


1 ■ 

• • 











I 


•K. 





\r' 




* 




I 


< 


/» 



'i 


•V 



I 


I 


« 


■N 




4 


< 



I 









0 029 041 854 9j 



STATUE OF L1BP:RTY, NEW YORK CITY 















